Operation Sandstinger
Operation Sandstinger is a mission in Just Cause 4. Introduction Quote from the map marker: "Lanza's "Sandstinger" train is ready to go. Meet him at Estación Perdida and commence the operation to bring down Zona Uno." Walkthrough Rico arrives at Estación Perdida, an old disused train station. A sandstorm appears as soon as you arrive. The Army of Chaos are already there and have parked their armored train into the station. The locomotive has "SANDSTINGER" written on its side. Lanza and Rico talk a little before they set off. They discuss that Rico is changing Solís, but weather it's for the better is yet to be seen. Train ride They get on the way. The cut-scene ends and the player is in control of the big turret. Lanza (as revealed by the dialogue) is inside the locomotive. The train drives along a canyon and there are multiple small groups of Black Hand army units next to the track. They consist of Cavalry Armored Trucks, Prizefighter Tanks, infantry and guard towers. Lanza calls them out at times. In addition to this, there are a few attack helicopters. Some of the guard towers have a guy with an RPG. Four times the train passes through a large wall of big white fuel tanks and wrecks of military vehicles. Lanza will call them out in advance. Not blowing them up causes noticeable damage to the locomotive. At least twice there will be sandstorms along the way. Lanza mentions that he has never been in one before. The train will pass through a village called La Colmena and soon after that begin experiencing technical difficulties. Lanza says that the locomotive's engine can't handle the sand (from the storm). This causes the train to stop on a bridge, just short of Zona Uno. The storm ends temporarily and Lanza gets to work on fixing the engine. Rico points out that they did know that they would have to drive through a sandstorm (implying that some sandproofing should have been done in advance). The Black Hand sends at least 20 helicopters to attack the train, but they are easy to blow up. If any of them get too close, the gun's aim will be off-set, so the player will have to aim either just above, or below the target and adjust the aim according to where the shot went. At one point there will be 4 bomber planes attacking the train on its left side. They are very hard to aim at, but at least they cause next to no damage. When the train is fixed and arrives at Zona Uno, there's a small cut-scene that shows the train ram its way through the gate and stop at the building. At Zona Uno The player is then tasked with defending the train until the storm comes back. This is easy because the enemy only sends soldiers with assault rifles and a few grenades. When the storm arrives, the player has to leave the train and get to a marked computer ("core maintenance console"). It's located about 100 meters to the left of the train. There are many Black Hand Soldiers around the base, but as long as the player moves at walking pace, they pose absolutely no threat. This is because the enemy can't see past about 10 meters in the storm. In some places they can even walk past the player at 5 meters. Using the computer will let Lanza find the three cooling units that have to be disabled. Lanza also lights up rows of red lights that lead the way to them. If the player should still get lost here, see the gallery below for a map. In addition to that, if the player leaves the area (not too far, or the mission fails), the storm disappears and it's actually possible to see the whole base clearly. The cooling units are made out of several tanks. Two of them have a yellow X on them. The panels marked with an X have to be grappled and retracted off, to reveal the fragile internal parts. These parts can then either be damaged with weapons, or by also being grappled. At one point a round column raises out of a unit to expose more fragile red parts. Once these are all destroyed, the whole cooling unit explodes. Rico mentions that these units are tough and Lanza thanks him and mentions that he designed them himself. When the last unit is destroyed, Rico has to return to the "core maintenance console" to open the armor around the weather core. The weather core cover parts will fly off into the wind and Lanza tells him to return to the train. It's not known if it's possible to complete the mission by other means (for example by supply dropping more weapons to fire/launch at the core), but the train is certainly the easiest at this point. The core can take multiple hits from the big gun before exploding. This triggers the final cut-scene. Mira, Lanza and Rico are on the roof of the building, near an Army of Chaos helicopter. Lanza says that his work is complete and wants to see that Miras computer can do. She then uploads a virus to the Illapa base, causing its defense turrets to blow up one of the three towers. Trivia *There's a small error in the opening cut-scene. The train car directly behind the gun car is a flatbed with a shipping container, but during the mission there are two fuel cars behind the gun car. **It's possible that the rear cars of the train are randomized during the mission. *The mission is set in a sandstorm where visibility is limited, but when the core is shown to explode, there is suddenly no more storm. That's because it was the core that created the storm, however realistically it would take a few minutes for all the sand to fall out of the air. Gallery (train ride) Operation Sandstinger (train is being prepared).png|The Train is being prepared. Operation Sandstinger (Rico is a strong man).png|Lanza and Rico talk before getting on the way. Operation Sandstinger (rear of the train as it starts moving).png|Rear of the train as it starts moving. Operation Sandstinger (flying tank).png|A tank is sent flying after a hit from the big gun. Also, Lanza is warning Rico about the first barricade. Operation Sandstinger (second barricade and AoC helicopters).png|Second barricade. Notice the Army of Chaos helicopters in the distance. Operation Sandstinger (third barricade intact).png|Third barricade intact. Operation Sandstinger (third barricade debris).png|Third barricade debris. Operation Sandstinger (we knew, didn't we).png|Shoot down the helicopters while Lanza fixes the locomotive. Operation Sandstinger (smoking engine, full speed).png|The locomotive is smoking near the end, as Lanza orders full speed. Operation Sandstinger (train has arrived).png|Train has arrived at Zona Uno. Gallery (at Zona Uno) Operation Sandstinger (defend the train).png|Defend the train. Operation Sandstinger (harmless enemies).png|The enemies are nearly harmless as they can't see as far as the player. Operation Sandstinger (map of objectives).png|Map of objectives. Operation Sandstinger (follow the lights).png|Follow the lights to the cooling unit. Operation Sandstinger (cooling unit).png|Cooling unit. Operation Sandstinger (another cooling unit).png|Another cooling unit. Operation Sandstinger (cooling unit opens at the top).png|Cooling unit opens at the top. Grapple those parts, or shoot at them. Operation Sandstinger (that's it, the core is venting).png|The core is open for venting (and destruction). Operation Sandstinger (core seen from the train).png|Core seen from the train. Operation Sandstinger (core explosion seen from above).png|Core explosion seen from above. Operation Sandstinger (core explosion seen from below).png|Core explosion seen from below. Operation Sandstinger (the crew meet behind the core).png|The crew meet behind what used to be the core. Operation Sandstinger (Illapa tower explodes).png|Illapa tower explodes. Category:Content Category:Just Cause 4 Missions